Fright AND Flight! September 13, 2007

Have you ever had to let go? Just close your eyes, let go, and jump? It’s not an easy thing. You have to release control, depend on something or someone besides yourself. Some people may be good at this… but not me! Nope. I’m the type that likes to be in control of my surroundings and circumstances. This is very difficult to achieve when one is going down a zip line! That’s right, a ZIP LINE! I have mentioned before that this summer our family volunteered at Bair Lake Bible Camp. The second week I was there I lived at the Farm House with all the junior staff teens. We tried to hold nightly activities for them after they got done with their jobs and on one particular night, we decided to go down the zip line. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is a steel cable that is approximately 50 feet in the air. You, as the participant, are equipped with a helmet, and a harness… that’s it! You climb two flights of stairs, get hooked to the cable with a rope and a couple carabiners and OFF YOU GO! Skyrocketing through the air over an area the size of a football field with nothing keeping you from dropping but this rope that attaches you to the cable, that at the moment seems all too flimsy (even though they test it by sending a car across). It’s a ride that takes all but three seconds or so but it’s a ride that TERRIFIED me.

I watched all these kids go up those stairs, hook up, and then you hear the guide say “3,2,1… GO!”. They go flying down the line, some of them even flip upside down to try to grab leaves off the trees! I walked up the stairs (one of the longest walks EVER), got hooked up to the cable, then… I looked down. THAT’S RIGHT!!!! I looked down, 50 FEET! What took everyone else less than five minutes, took me THIRTY! I could not make myself let go! I would have rather run down those stairs and quit! It wasn’t a fright or flight situation, it was fright AND flight!

This gave me insight to who I am and the one of the biggest struggles I face… letting go. I was faced with a situation that requires me to let go. For the past eight years, I have home schooled all three of my girls. For the past eight years, I have been a stay-at-home mom. This year, the kids are enrolled in public school. I thought that it would be fine, until today. They started school a week ago, but I kept myself busy, today… not so much. So I was out of control of my kids lives and their environment. If someone is mean to them, I can’t do anything about it! I haven’t been called to the office yet for them beating anyone up so I figure everything is going fine. So I have to let go.

I think of Moses’ mother. She protected him for as long as she could and then she had to let go. Granted I get to see my kids every day when they come home, AND I didn’t keep them home to save them from death or anything, but still, she had to let go. She had to rely on the fact that God would care for him when she could not. Hannah is another example. She prayed and prayed for a child and promised that if God would answer she would give him to the Lord. She conceived and bore a son. The Bible doesn’t say, but I wonder if she even had a moment of hesitation or worry. She had to let go and rely on the fact that God would care for him when she could not.

There are times when we just want to hold on. We want to handle things on our own without any help from God or man. We want control. Now you might not be a stay-at-home mom who has a hard time sending her kids to school, but there must be something that you struggle with giving to God. I have a hard time relinquishing control, some may have a hard time giving God their spending habits, their temper, their tongue, their thoughts, their relationships, their lives.

May I offer a word of encouragement to both of us?

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Here’s an exercise, try re-writing the psalm in your own words! Make it apply to your life and claim the promise of God’s control. The “river” that is mentioned is referring to the Holy Spirit the dwells within us and gives us grace and consoles us even though we do not deserve it. Selah is a word that is found about 74 times in all of Scripture, it’s meaning is interpreted as “pause” or “silence”; “to raise” or “lift”. What does this tell us? The word Selah appears after verses 7 & 11:

“The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah“

“The LORD Almighty is with us;
the god of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah“

Do you see the point that the psalmist is trying to communicate? All these “scary” things may come our way, the fear of letting go is to be out of control, but it is to allow God to be IN control. He is in control whether we let go or not, but we can melt in His arms knowing that He is our refuge, strength, “and ever-present help in trouble”, our fortress.

I need to let go. God loves my kids far more than I ever could (though that is hard for me to imagine, I know that it is true). In this journey of letting go, I have combined the definitions for Selah. I have “to raise” or “lift” my kids up to Him, “raise my voice” to my Heavenly Father, and then “pause” in “silence” as He does His work. You can do the same. LET GO! Lift it up to God, raise your voice in prayer, pause, be silent, BE STILL…

“Be still, and know that I am God”
Psalm 46:10

HOOAH! September 6, 2007

You can hear it echoing in military bases, it’s cited throughout history, the spelling is debated (hooah, hoo-ah, hoorah, etc…), but it’s definition rings clear! It’s the battle cry of those who protect our country. HOOAH!

I attended a varsity volleyball game tonight. Whenever they got a kill (when they attack and the ball goes down for a point) they chant, “AHHH KILL, KILL, KILL (pound, pound, pound), HOOAH!” As I listened to this chant, it reminded me of a retreat that our youth group had. We did a military theme and “HOOAH” was our battle cry. When you look at the meaning of hooah, you will see that this term is not something to be used lightly! I Googled the phrase and the results where plentiful! 27,700 results for “hooah definition” and each site I clicked on rang the same resounding chant!

“No matter how one might spell the word… [it] is still an expression of high morale, strength and confidence. And, when powered by an overwhelmingly proud, and usually loud, tone of voice, hooah seems to stomp out any possibility of being bound…”. (U.S. Army Infantry Home Page)

“Former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan has his interpretation. ‘I don’t know how exactly to spell it, but I know what it means,’ Sullivan said. ‘It means we have broken the mold. We are battle focused. Hooah says ‘Look at me. I’m a warrior. I’m ready. Sergeants trained me to standard. I serve America every day, all the way.’ ‘” (U.S. Army Infantry Home Page)

As I watched the first game tonight, HOOAH was definitely a battle cry of a team who was battle focused! They were pumped and determined, and no one was going to stand in their way. It was a close defeat, and after that, hooah just became a word. The passion slipped away as the night continued and they didn’t seem to regain their focus.

The same thing happens to us. We are like race horses in the gate, we bolt out at the sound of the gun. Our day begins and we are gung ho and ready to go! As we become subject to moments of defeat, our battle cry dwindles to a mere whisper. Our faces hang low, and the bounce in our step all but fades. Those of us who know Christ, know where we must turn in moments like these. When defeat knocks at our door and temptation lurks around the corner, we must remember who we work for. Paul is very encouraging in this and is somewhat of a “drill sergeant” to our dedication to our Lord:

“…my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 – MSG)

“So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27 – ESV)

We should be facing each days challenge with a roaring HOOAH! Each battle that comes our way should be met with a resounding BOOM that could only come from God Himself, and why? Because it does. When we rely on Him, we can be confident that we will gain victory through Him who lives in us.

“Ye (you) are of God, little children, and have overcome them (evil spirits who try to lure us away from Christ) : because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4 – KJV) [parenthesized words are mine]

Let’s us look back at 1 Corinthians and take a glance at the context. Verse 15:58 was one of our key verses for our retreat and when you look at the what comes before that, it ties it all together.

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57 – NIV)

We are the perishable who are clothed with the imperishable! We are the mortal clothed with the immortal! And all this through Christ! So we could say “Donuts in the lounge, you have been swallowed up in victory!” Or “Where, O foul mouth, is your victory?” “Where, O lying heart, is your sting?” ALL of our struggles will be swallowed up in the victory of Christ! Our part (yes, we have to make a choice, as usual) is to wail a deafening HOOAH!

IL Volleydogs, stand up and say HOOAH! Look at the definition, sense the pride, feel the burning passion to complete the task that you have set out to achieve! Defeat has no hold on you! Grab hold of this battle cry and mix it with the adrenaline that runs through your veins as you hear the whistle that signals the serve. Execute your play with the skill that you have acquired from the discipline gained in practice. Beat your bodies to make them the tool used to turn defeat in the other direction. Lean on each other as you conquer together the adversaries that you face!

Christians, stand up and say HOOAH! Look at the definition, sense the pride, feel the burning passion to complete the task that you have set out to achieve! Defeat has no hold on you! Grab hold of this battle cry and mix it with the strength that has been granted you through your precious Savior! Execute the tasks set before you by your Heavenly Father with the discipline gained from study and prayer. Beat your bodies to make them the tool used to turn defeat in the other direction. Lean on your brothers and sisters in Christ as you conquer together the adversary we all face!

TAKE THE STAND!

“Christ has broken the mold! I am battle focused. Look at me! I’m a warrior! I’m ready! I have been trained to standard! I serve God every day, ALL THE WAY… HOOAH!!!!”

[Suggested Reading: Psalm 91 (The Soldier's Psalm)]
(The picture above and the quotes where taken from the U.S. Army Infantry Home Page )